How FAUNDA Was Born: A Silly, Serious Story About Three Grown-Ups Who Didn't Know What to Build

This is a story about three cofounders, Abdullatif, Rohit, and Gilda, and how they once felt exactly like confused kids trying to come up with a business idea. Yes. Really.

Once Upon a Time… in a Very Serious Office

Abdullatif and Rohit were no longer children.
They had laptops.
They had notebooks.
They had coffee ☕ (lots of it).

And they had one big problem:
"We want to build a startup… but WHAT should we build?"

They wrote ideas.
They erased ideas.
They argued with ideas.
They stared at the wall like it might whisper an answer.
It didn't.

Idea #2: "No Wait… This Is Better!"

Idea #3: "Hmm… Maybe Not…"

Every day went like this:

"What if we build this?"
"But who needs it?"
"Is this even a real problem?"

Sometimes they felt excited.
Sometimes they felt stuck.
Sometimes they felt like giving up and opening a juice stand instead.

They realized something funny (and scary):
Nobody ever taught us HOW to find a good idea.

School taught math.
School taught exams.
But school never taught:

How to spot real problems
How to ask the right questions
How to test ideas before falling in love with them

Then a Thought Popped Up

One day, Abdullatif said:

"Why is coming up with an idea so hard?"

Rohit replied:

"Because no one taught us to practice it… like a game."

And suddenly, BOOM!, a lightbulb went ON.
(Yes, a real cartoon-style one.)

They remembered being kids:

Asking "WHY?" all the time
Imagining crazy solutions
Learning by playing

And they wondered:
What if kids learned entrepreneurship the right way, early, playfully, and without fear?

What If Struggling Was Part of the Game?

What if:

Making mistakes was allowed?
Bad ideas were funny, not embarrassing?
Learning felt like an adventure, not a test.

What if kids could:

Explore a city
Talk to people
Find problems
Build solutions
And pitch ideas like real founders?

That's when FAUNDA was born!

But Wait… Two Builders Don't Make a Business

Rohit and Abdullatif had the idea. They had the code. They had the energy.

What they didn't have? Someone who knew how to actually run a business.

Turns out, building a startup and running one are two very different things. And two engineers staring at a whiteboard doesn't exactly solve that.

That's when Rohit remembered someone.

Back in 2021, during his first year at UDSM's CoICT, Rohit used to hang around the UDICTI Hub — a space where builders, dreamers, and doers showed up. That's where he first crossed paths with Gilda. She had already finished her studies, but she kept coming back to the hub to work on her own projects and startups. She wasn't just another person in the room — she was someone who moved. Someone who understood both the design side and the business side.

Rohit filed that away. This one knows things.

Years later, when FAUNDA started taking shape and it became clear that the team needed someone who could lead the business — not just the product — that memory surfaced.

They called Gilda.

She said yes.

And just like that, the team was complete: Rohit and Abdullatif holding down the tech and development, and Gilda stepping in as CEO — leading the business, shaping the strategy, and bringing her eye for design to everything FAUNDA looks like and feels like.

Three founders. One mission. Built in Dar.

FAUNDA Is the Game We Wish We Had

FAUNDA is not about being "smart".
It's not about having the "best idea".

It's about:

Trying
Learning
Failing safely
Trying again

In FAUNDA, kids don't just hear about entrepreneurship.
They live it.

They walk through Silicon Dar.
They talk to students, shop owners, and families.
They write down ideas in a notebook.
They earn coins.
They make choices.
They build confidence.

Just like Abdullatif, Rohit, and Gilda had to do, but much earlier, and much more fun.

A Message to Every Kid Reading This

If you ever think:

"I don't have a good idea."
"I'm not ready."
"What if I fail?"

FAUNDA says:
That's okay. That's how founders are made.

Every big idea starts small.
Every founder starts confused.
And every problem you notice… might be your future business.

And That's Why We Built FAUNDA

Because learning should feel like play.
Because ideas need practice.
Because kids deserve better tools than we had.

Three founders. Three different strengths. One shared belief: kids deserve better tools than we had.

And because somewhere out there…
a kid is staring at a wall, waiting for an idea to whisper back.

FAUNDA whispers first.

Build. Play. Learn.

Welcome to FAUNDA.